Basics of Trademark in India

What is a Trademark?

• A trademark is a unique Corporate logo, symbol, word(s), a slogan, a brand or simply the name if the product, used to represent a business or its products. A trademark exclusively identifies a product as belonging to a specific company and recognizes the company's ownership of the brand.
• Once registered, that same symbol or series of words cannot be used by any other organization, forever, as long as it remains in use and proper paperwork and fees are paid.
• Similar to a trademark, a "service mark" identifies and distinguishes the source of a service rather than a product, and the term “trademark” is often used to refer to both trademarks and service marks. It is legally recognized as a type of intellectual property.

• The trademark owner can be an individual, business organization, or any legal entity. A trademark can be placed on a package, a label, a voucher, or on the product itself.

Basics of Trademark in India

What Kinds of Things Can Be Registered as Trademarks? You can trademark many of the things that you use to distinguish your business from other businesses. You might have a trademark for:

• Your business name
• A product name
• Your logo or label
• A symbol or design
• A sound
• A product package

A trademark may be designated by the following symbols:

To indicate that a trademark has been claimed, companies use one of three symbols:

•  ™ - Using the trademark symbol after a logo or phrase alerts competitors that you have claimed this symbol or phrase as your own, but you don’t have to have even formally apply for it, which stands for an unregistered trademark.
•  ® - Only trademarks that have been officially granted by the Trademark office can use the ® symbol, which stands for a registered trademark.
• ℠ - Companies that sell services and not products, have the option to use the service mark logo, but most of the companies use the ™ mark for simplicity.

Difference between Trademark, Copyright and Patent.

Trademarks, copyrights and patents all protect your rights to your intellectual property. However, each protects a different type of property.

•  A copyright protects an original work of authorship, such as written material, a photograph, a drawing or a song. Copyright protects your right to reproduce, perform, distribute or display your work or to create other works based upon it.

•  A patent protects an invention. If you have a patent, you have a right to make and sell your invention for a limited time, depending on the type of patent you’ve gotten. In exchange for this right, you disclose your invention to the public when you file your patent application.

Why to Register for Trademark?

Once a trademark has been granted, the owner receives three key benefits:

•  A notice of claim to any other businesses thinking of using the same symbol or word as its trademark

• A legal presumption of ownership, which can help fend off would-be users

• The exclusive right to use the claimed trademark

What type of trademarks CANNOT be Registered? Any trademark, which is identical or deceptively like an existing registered trademark or trademark for which application for registration has been made, cannot be registered. Also, a trademark that would likely cause deception or confusion or is offensive may not be registered. Geographical names, common names, common trade words and common abbreviation are also not registered as a trademark.